RESET

What is RESET?

RESET is a youth development programme designed to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and resilience to make positive life choices. It focuses on engaging young people who are at risk of disengagement or exclusion from mainstream education. Through interactive workshops, mentorship, and real-world scenarios, the programme helps participants understand and develop emotional regulation strategies, and build strong decision making skills.

Apex Scotland work to support people with experience of the justice system and those who are at risk of potentially entering the justice system. Our RESET project was aimed at supporting young people in school to enable them to achieve their full potential. Through our RESET project, Apex Scotland aimed to foster positive relationships and address the challenges faced by young people.

Partners in Change

In addition to our RESET project, as an organisation we spent three years looking at how we could be a trauma informed organisation and how we move beyond trauma.

How somebody can widen their Window of tolerance was a key part of this work.

What the experts say

As part of our work in the final year of this project, we recorded a podcast to hear firsthand from professionals who have worked with Apex Scotland and the RESET programme.

We hope that this discussion will showcase the work that we did and how it supported young people, staff and the wider school community. We also hope that it can help by giving ideas or suggestions into how to incorporate our findings of ‘what works’ into your own situations.

The impact

Many young people would not have successfully and confidently transitioned to high school without the tools, knowledge and experiences gained through the RESET programme.

Increased Attendance

Young people attended school more easily knowing that they had the support of a trusted person on a daily basis. Through RESET they learned how to cope with and manage their relationships with peers, school staff and the wider school community.

Emotional Regulation

Learning how to better understand their emotions and put into practice healthier ways to react through the window of tolerance, self-awareness, self-reflection and perspective.

Personal Development

Personal development experiences were visible through positive school achievements and attainment. Young people were given alternative learning opportunities which led to gaining qualifications which was added to their portfolio for high school.

Greater Confidence

Young people developed a greater sense of joy, happiness and contentment in the school setting and overall. This was reported back by school staff and parents/ carers who witnessed changes in their young people who were supported through RESET.

Our core principles

Shared Values

Shared values help to shape the school culture and everyone can share the same expectations of behaviour, learning and relationships.

Protected Time

Having protected time for a young person helps them to feel important and heard.

Flexibility

Flexibility is key throughout the whole school, no one can predict when a young person will need support. So being able to provide a space when needed is key.

Consistency of a trusted person

Having the same trusted person support young people’s fears and anxieties over a journey of months, across this key transitional time, was highlighted as very impactful.

Alternative Opportunities

Offering a young person alternative opportunities can be anything from a walk, to a game played outside, to making something or crafting.

The pupils in my caseload who Ally supported in transition have benefitted from having a familiar face through their time in S1. They have extra transition visits to school at the end of P7 which also made them feel more comfortable. All in all these pupils are the ones who need a little bit extra support in this challenging time and they certainly got this from Ally. Just an extra ‘go to person’ for the wee ones. Finally, I would say that Ally’s support helped make the parents/carers more at ease for the same reasons as the pupils.
Guidance Teacher

I would like to thank you for the outstanding support you have provided to pupils in the transition from primary to high school. Your dedication, empathy and consistent presence have made a genuine difference in what can often be an overwhelming time for our young people.
Guidance Teacher

You have a very calm and approachable manner which helps put our pupils at ease. The support you give has had a positive impact with our pupils. Thank you for everything.
Guidance Teacher

Resources

Here are a selection of simple resources to use at home or in school to help open up dialogue with young people. These should give you stepping stones to be able to chat, share, laugh and learn about each other.

Have fun with them, adapt them or even come up with some your own ideas. These are a great starting point whether there are two of you or more and work in any setting.

Conflict resolution toolkit

Bitesize resources

We’ve compiled a number of resources for you to use and help you get started.